Flourishing Like a Green Bay Tree
by many form man
Summary: Jotaro and the other Stardust Crusaders have finally discovered Dio's hideout in Egypt, and they make their final push to defeat him once and for all. However, in the midst of traversing the castle, Kakyoin discovers a mysterious weapon that beckons to him. Will he succumb to the honeyed words the tool offers to him? Even if he does, will it actually help him defeat Dio?


In a jolt of insight, Kakyoin became aware that his consciousness had returned to his own body. He snapped his gaze all about the room, desperate to confirm that all was truly as it was supposed to be. He began to panic, for his vision had dimmed and everything had taken a dark hue, only to remember that he had been wearing sunglasses indoors. With a sigh of relief, he removed the eyewear and crossed his arms, turning to Jotaro, who acted as aloof as ever, his hands back in his pockets.

"I should thank you, Jotaro," Kakyoin started. Jotaro didn't turn from the hole he had made in the wall with Terrence's body; the only indication that he was listening was a near-inaudible sigh. "You're as reliable as ever. Were you not here, who knows how badly things could have ended up."

Jotaro made a point to ignore Joseph muttering about how he could have easily kicked that young upstart's ass in video games, and started his response with a click of his tongue. "You didn't do half-bad yourself," he responded, "but if you had won in the first place, I wouldn't have had to deal with that hassle."

"Yes, of course." Kakyoin slid his sunglasses back on to accompany his answer, then started to move towards the exit Jotaro had forcibly made. However, he stopped dead in his tracks as something peculiar in Terrence's display caught his eye. He turned slowly to meet it, in the process allowing Jotaro and Joseph to walk far ahead of him.

Joseph was the first to notice, and he turned back to Kakyoin, exclaiming, "Hey, Kakyoin! We need to get a move on. Or do you really want to stay in this creepy place any longer than you need to?"

"Just hold on a second, Mr. Joestar," Kakyoin replied, holding one hand out as he used the other to trifle through the display. He pushed a few dolls aside and was able to confirm that he had not been mistaken; amongst the rest of the ornaments, an arrow was mysteriously placed in the back of the display. He reached in and grabbed the weapon, displaying it to the Joestars as he pulled it out.

On what Kakyoin would swear was instinct, Joseph recoiled away from the arrow as he asked, "Kakyoin, what do you think you're doing?! Put that back; we don't know what it could do!"

"Calm down, old man," Jotaro interjected with a sigh. He walked a few steps over to where he saw Terrence's body as he continued, "We can just ask this guy all about it. If he doesn't spit it out, I'll beat it out of him."

Not until he was standing over Terrence D'Arby's unconscious body did Jotaro realize that that plan wouldn't pan out. He simply stated, "Oh. Right."

Kakyoin looked between the two Joestars, then with only the slightest bit of hesitation in his voice, addressed Joseph. "Mr. Joestar, I understand your concern, but I feel that this arrow can only help us. I don't know if it will assist in defeating Dio, but some day, somewhere, it will do good for us."

At first, the elder Joestar almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. He muttered something about kids these days, then pointed directly at Kakyoin. "Alright, but whatever plan you have in mind for it, keep that thing away from me, got it?!"

Kakyoin gave only a small nod, more than a bit perplexed at the conviction with which Joseph opposed the arrow. Joseph and Jotaro continued out of the exit of the room and into the rest of Dio's castle, and after sliding the arrow into a safe compartment in his blazer, Kakyoin followed suit.

* * *

Kakyoin had won. He was sure of it. His plan accounted for so many contingencies; his barrier should have detected even the slightest of movements anywhere in a 20 meter radius. He was sure that Dio could never beat that strategy.

And yet, in an instant, his barrier vanished, a gaping hole appeared in his chest, and he himself was sent flying at inexplicable speeds. He could hardly even question how due to his grievous injury, and what few words he managed to ask were drowned out by the wind due to the ludicrous speed he had been launched backward. His velocity was only stopped by his abrupt collision with a building, and although Hierophant Green manifested to cushion the blow, it did little to change his already existing injuries.

Kakyoin leaned back and attempted to force a laugh, but only blood came out of his mouth. "And I was so sure of myself," he said to nobody in particular, his gaze fogging over as he looked to the clock tower in the distance. His brain began to catch up with all that had happened in that instant, and as that happened, his view of the giant clock became clearer and clearer. He felt closer and closer to an epiphany.

But only in that moment did he become aware of a stinging in his shoulder that totally interrupted his train of thought. He pulled down his blazer and looked at the injury in question, only to discover that the arrow he stashed away earlier was stuck halfway in his shoulder. He moved to pull it out, only for it to twitch and dig further into his skin. He pulled at it again, only for it to resist and move even further in.

"What's going on?!" he cried out with all the bluster he could manage, before summoning his Stand with a cry of "Hierophant Green!"

Kakyoin ordered his Stand to do anything he could think of, from dragging the arrow out with tendrils to shrinking to a microscopic level to try and dislodge the arrow from the inside. However, none of it made any difference, and the arrow soon sank fully into his flesh. A brilliant flash of light burst forth from the wound in Kakyoin's shoulder, and he cried out, unsure himself of whether the cry was of pain or surprise. Further adding to his confusion was his state once the light faded.

Not only had the wound from the arrow itself disappeared without a trace, but every one of his wounds was gone entirely. Kakyoin stood in disbelief, looking at and clenching one of his hands as if to reassure to himself that this wasn't some dying dream. He raised his clenched fist and let out an uneasy laugh, still beleaguered by the thought that this was a dream that could end any instant.

A flash of inspiration interrupted his uneasiness, and with only a second's hesitation, summoned Hierophant Green once more.

The Stand that stood before him in that moment was familiar, and yet very different from the Stand that accompanied him for most of this journey. He laughed in triumph, before declaring, "This is perfect! I don't know how that arrow did it, but with this, we can finally defeat Dio!"

Kakyoin looked down at the sprawling cityscape of Cairo before him, and accompanied by this new Hierophant Green, he jumped down to ground zero of the ongoing fight against Dio.

* * *

Dio had won. He was sure of it. Joseph's still body lay before him, and Jotaro only then arrived on the scene. A wide-eyed grin came to his face as he turned to the user of Star Platinum, his fangs on full display. "So, Jotaro, you're the only one left. Do you really think you can do anything to me, Dio?!"

Jotaro deigned not answer. He instead ran his finger across the bill of his cap and started to walk across the street. If any fear existed in Jotaro Kujo at that moment, none of it escaped through his gait. Dio sneered at the teenager's arrogance but ultimately humored him, making his own way across. They were about to enter each other's range, ready to beat the other into oblivion, when Kakyoin burst onto the scene with a cry, "Hold it right there!"

Dio and Jotaro both turned to Kakyoin with a cry of his name, Jotaro's one of bafflement and Dio's one of amusement. Dio followed up his declaration by asking the youth, "So that attack didn't finish you off?"  
"If anything, I should thank you, Dio," Kakyoin retorted, striking a pose. One hand stayed close to his face, while he wrapped his opposite arm across his own waist. "If not for you putting me in that near-death situation, I never would have discovered the true potential of my Stand, Hierophant Green!"

"What nonsense," Dio stated. Jotaro attempted to take this conversation as an opportunity to get the first strike on the vampire, but in the span of a split second, he somehow appeared atop a building, away from either Jotaro or Kakyoin. "And what would that potential be?"

"Let me show you! Hierophant Green Requiem!" cried Kakyoin. A blinding green light enveloped the youth, and when it cleared, the new form of Hierophant Green appeared next to its master. Although largely similar in appearance to its previous form, its entire body took on a lighter shade of green. However, the most obvious change was in its head, which was a far departure from its previously humanoid head. Replacing it was an oversized frog head, with its two eyes pointing in different directions at all times.

Dio would laugh himself sick, if not for the fact that his vampiric state rendered him incapable of catching ill. "You call that thing an evolution? Pathetic, Kakyoin! Let me show you the depths of your foolishness!"

With a cry of its name, Dio summoned his Stand, The World. All around him froze, and for the next six seconds, the world was all his. He spent the first second looking around, to see the state of his world. Kakyoin was standing in place alongside his absurd Stand, and Jotaro was leaping to meet Dio atop the building, although far too late at this point. The citizens of Cairo below were as they had been when Jotaro had arrived, disheveled and dazed at the sudden outbreak of a fight nearby. Dio noted that a few women that were previously in the crowd no longer were, but he considered this a trifle.

Second two of the stopped time started, and with it Dio moved to end this farce of a battle once and for all. He moved to leap off the building and intercept Jotaro's attack. At least, he intended to, only to discover that he inexplicably could not move. "What's going on?!" he exclaimed, only to look down and discover where those women in the crowd had gone.

Countless women surrounded Dio, holding down every one of his appendages. No matter how much he struggled, the grips of these countless women remained ironclad, and the vampire found himself totally unable to move anything beyond his eyes. As he struggled fruitlessly against their hold, he asked, "How are these women so strong?!"

Dio spent what remained of the frozen time failing to break free of these shackles, and before he knew it, Jotaro resumed flying at him, ready to punch his face in. At least, he would have, if not for the ordinary people surrounding Dio. He stopped in front of the vampire and was ready to interrogate him on his disregard for these women's lives, only for Dio to preempt him with a cry of, "Kakyoin, was this your doing?!"

A smirk crept up Kakyoin's face, and with a flip of his hair he retorted, "Yes, it was. For you see, Dio, this is the power of Hierophant Green Requiem." He pointed at the horde of women and continued, "Hierophant Green Requiem allows me absolute control over all moms!"

"I- Impossible!" Truthfully, Dio wanted to laugh in the face of what an absurd Stand ability that was. If the face of the teenager next to him was any indication, Jotaro shared that sentiment, though was desperately trying to hide it. Yet, he could not deny how effective the ability was. No matter what plan he concocted, it fell in the face of this impenetrable barrier.

"The World!" Dio declared the name of his Stand again, and the bulky yellow Stand appeared behind him, making every effort to destroy the impromptu barricade. However, no matter how much the Stand attacked, the women did not respond in any way. They were totally unmoving, the only indicator that they were still alive being their breathing and that their gazes were totally fixed on Kakyoin. Dio attempted to stop time again, but all it accomplished was him writing around for six more seconds. "This is absurd!"

"I'm not done yet, Dio!" Kakyoin struck another pose and continued, "This ability is not limited to just living mothers!"

Dio started to inquire of what he could mean, but his inquiry was interrupted by a sickly familiar voice asking, "Dio, sweety, what is all this?"

Dio's gaze snapped slightly to the side to meet an apparition, in a form he swore he would never see again. Standing before him was the ghostly form of his long-deceased mother. "Kakyoin, you bastard!" he screeched, his writhing renewed, but as fruitless as ever.

Dio's mother was taken aback with a gasp, and she moved to slap her son. Her phantom hand passed harmlessly through the vampire's face, but she continued regardless, "Dio Brando! I never want to hear that kind of language out of your mouth again!"

An endless list of potential retorts coursed through Dio's mind, but the more responses he thought of, the more he realized the pointlessness of attempting to backtalk his mother. He hung his head in shame and replied, "Sorry, mother."

A giggle escaped her lips, before she asked, "I was called here quite suddenly, so would you like to explain what you've been up to all these years, honey?"

This entire sequence of events was almost too much to process for Jotaro, so much so that he spent the last few minutes staring, mouth agape, as it unfolded before him. However, the line of questioning from Dio's mother presented him a chance. He cleared his throat as he approached her, and he started his explanation with, "It's a very long story, Mrs. Brando, but your son has been a very bad boy."

Dio's mom clasped her hands over her mouth in shock as Jotaro started to relate all the events that had occurred up to that point to her, from the Stand that threatened to kill his own mother to the legions of Stand users that Dio had sent after him and his companions.

"Dio, is this all true?!" she demanded of her son. He didn't answer, but the way he turned his head away from her told her all she needed to know. The indignity of her son ignited an outrage in her, and she cried, "How could you do all that to these innocent kids?! I am very disappointed in you."

Dio's head snapped back to meet his mother once more, and he instantly replied, "Mommy, no!" Tears began to form in his eyes, and his lip started to quiver. Through his blubbering, he started, "B- But mommy, I–"

"No buts, young man!" She pointed in a random direction and demanded of the vampiric overlord, "Now go to your room right now!"

Dio turned first to Jotaro, who largely maintained his stony exposure, though the small grin the boy had told Dio all too much of how much he was loving this. He turned next to Kakyoin, who with a wave of his hand freed Dio of his prison of mothers and prodded him, "Well, young man? You heard your mother."

He finally turned back to his mother, and hung his head lower than he ever had before. "Yes, mommy," he finally said, turning and skulking back to his coffinroom.

A silence fell over Cairo with Dio's disappearance, which was only broken when Dio's mother approached Kakyoin. "Thank you for this, young man," she said. "Even if he's become a bit of a hooligan, it was a pleasure to see my son again."

"The pleasure was mine, Mrs. Brando," Kakyoin replied with a nod and a small smile. With that, Kakyoin dispelled the effects of Hierophant Green Requiem. Dio's mother faded away before his eyes, and all the mothers that had been holding Dio down awoke from their trance, none the wiser as to why they were atop that building.

Jotaro was next to approach Kakyoin, after making sure that Joseph was still stable. "So it's over, huh?" he asked, though Kakyoin swore he was asking himself more than he was asking him. "Do you really think the power over my mom will be broken, just like that?"

"Why wouldn't it?" Kakyoin replied with a shrug. A silence fell between the two, before another thought came to Kakyoin's mind. "Though you know, Jotaro, I did defeat Dio practically singlehandedly."

Jotaro side-eyed his companion for a split second before asking, "And what of it?" "Well, it only seems fair that I get some form of recompense." He gave Jotaro a knowing look and continued, "Perhaps in the form of some alone time with your mother?"

"You piece of shit."

Kakyoin laughed. "I doubted you'd say yes. But you know what? You can't stop me! Hierophant Green Requiem is invincible! With my Stand, I will–"

Jotaro punched Kakyoin in the face, and as Kakyoin laid in the fetal position and cried, he put a permanent end to that train of thought.

* * *

The lives of the remaining Stardust Crusaders reached a relative age of peace after the debacle with Dio came to an end. Polnareff returned to his homeland of France after a heartfelt goodbye to his compatriots, and Jotaro, Kakyoin, and Joseph all returned to Japan. Although the Joestars expressed doubt that the issue with Dio was truly solved, they came home to discover Holly Joestar alive and well, as if her Stand never manifested from the start. The Joestar family retained regular contact with Kakyoin and his family, even if Jotaro side-eyed him every time he came to visit.

As for Dio, he spent most of the rest of his immortal days locked up in his Cairo castle, worried over how anything he could do would just disappoint his mother further. He had a priest friend who occasionally stopped by to visit and talk about gravity, but instead of the grand ambitions the priest originally hoped for from Dio, they ended up spending most of their time together eating ice cream and watching sitcoms.

* * *

 **(This was inspired by a combination of a tumblr post and a resulting conversation I had with a friend about it. If you're wondering why Terrence had that arrow… I don't know either. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯)**


End file.
